My Best Friend: Edward
by LoveMusicRain
Summary: This story follows a 5-year-old Bella and her best friend Edward who comes every night after her parents fall asleep. He's a human-drinker, but she doesn't get that kind of stuff yet. Fun, Fluff, and the challenges of growing up.
1. Dress Up (age 5)

_Tap, tap, tap_. I heard Edward knock on my window. That meant that my mommy and daddy were sleeping already. I grinned and got out of bed, running to my window, but my feet were slippery from my socks. I fell on my bottom and blushed, getting up and tiptoed over to my shoes. I put them on and stood on my bed to open my window.

It was hard to see him right now, but he was really handsome. Sometimes he played Prince and Princess with me and he was a prince who rescued me from the monsters… his brothers and sisters played too, and they pretended to be witches or kings or servants but most of the time, Edward said he wanted to play with just me. I asked him why, and he said that it's because he's not very good at sharing. I thought that was funny, because Edward shares his things with me all the time.

He climbed inside my room and smiled at me. "Hi Bella. Are you ready to play dress-up with Alice?" I giggled.

"You have to play, too, silly." He pouted, but I knew he was pretending.

"You would make me wear a dress? But I'm a boy!" I laughed again and covered my mouth so no one would hear me. Edward said that if my mommy or daddy woke up and found out he couldn't take me to his house to play anymore.

"You wear black makeup on your eyes, though. Are you sure?" I whispered with a grin. He crossed his arms and turned his nose up away from me, still pouting.

"But don't worry, you can still be a boy in the game," I gave in, laughing.

"Oh, good. You had me worried there. No dresses for me!" He picked me up and I put my arms around his neck and tucked my face into his chest. He put a leg out my window and carried me down into the tree. He shut my window and jumped down.

He ran really fast through the woods. I couldn't really see anything though, cause it was too dark out. It wasn't long before I saw the lights of his parent's house and he was carrying me inside. Edward didn't really live here, he lived alone at a different house, but he knew I liked to play with his brothers and sisters so he brought me here sometimes. Also, his mommy and daddy were really nice.

When he set me down in the entryway I immediately smelled something yummy. I grabbed Edward's hand and ran to the kitchen, but not as fast as he runs. His mommy, Esme was pulling chocolate chip cookies out of the oven. She set them down on a cooling rack and turned around to smile at us. I gave her a huge hug.

"Hi, Esme! Those cookies smell really good. Are you going to play with me and Alice and Jasper and Edward?" Esme laughed and kissed me on the head.

"No, sweetheart, I have to work, but you'll all have a lot of fun. As soon as those cookies are cool, you can eat as many as you want."

Edward picked up a cookie and held it for about ten seconds and then handed it to me. It was cooled down from his hands. I took a big bite and it was still warm and melty in my mouth.

"Mmm… thank you so much for making these, Esme. And thanks for cooling it down, Edward."

"Of course, Bella," they both said at the same time. I giggled and took another bite of my cookie. I held it up to Edward.

"Do you want a bite?" I asked him. He leaned forward and his two special teeth popped down. He took a little bite of the cookie, chewing and swallowing while I watched him. He almost never ate, because he said didn't actually need to eat. He smiled at me and turned to his mom.

"My compliments to the chef," he said, "these are really good." Esme waved her finger at him.

"I made those for Bella, you'd better not eat too many." I laughed and took another bite and handed the cookie to him again.

"I will share with him" I told her and he took a big bite and stuck his tongue out at his mommy.

"Bella will share," he said. She huffed and waved at us.

"I'll see you later, you two," she said and she went out to the garage where we heard a car start and pull out of the driveway. Edward picked up another cookie and held it up to my mouth. I took a big bite and moved over to his chair to sit in his lap. I cuddled up to him.

"Bella, there's plenty of cookie. Please don't take such big bites. I don't want you to choke."

"Okay," I said. When my mommy and daddy say that to me I tell them not to worry, but I know Edward gets sad when he worries about me. He put his arms around me and rocked me back and forth. Then I heard a car pull in. Edward smiled and picked me up.

"Alice and Jasper are back, time to play dress-up!"

"Yay!" They were inside a moment later, because Edward's family was really fast. Alice ran over and grabbed me, picking me up and kissing me on the cheek.

"Bella! We're going to have so much fun!" Jasper smiled at us.

"Hello, Edward. Hi Bella."

"Hi, Jaz. Where did you and Alice go?" I wondered out loud.

"We went out for dinner." "Oh. You must've been hungry. It's even past my bedtime."

"Yeah, we were hungry. But we got back as soon as we could because we were excited to play with you," Alice explained. I had a question now.

"Why do Alice and Jasper get hungry, if you don't?" I asked Edward. He froze, but answered me anyway.

"I do get hungry, I just eat different foods than other people." I wanted to ask him what he _did_ get hungry for, but he looked so sad and scared that I gasped when I looked up at him. Alice put me down and I ran over to him. I grabbed his legs and hugged him tightly.

"What's wrong, Eddie?" His eyes narrowed, but they were happy now. "Excuse me? What was that you called me?" I smiled up at him innocently

"Nothing, Edward." He smirked at me and growled playfully.

"That's what I thought."

Alice pretended to cough, "_Eddie!_" and Jasper chuckled.

"Are we going to play dress-up, or what?" Edward snapped. I jumped. He was mad.

"I'm sorry I called you Eddie, Edward." I said, quietly. I must have really hurt his feelings. His eyes widened.

"Oh, Bella, you can call me anything you want, I was upset with Alice and Jasper. They were thinking about something I didn't like. You don't have to apologize."

"Oh," I breathed a sigh of relief. He picked me up and held me tightly as he followed Alice and Jasper upstairs.

"Bella, what am I going to do with you?" I didn't answer, because I wanted to ask him something. "Why don't you like the name Eddie?" he looked at me funny.

"Why don't you like the name Isabella?" I thought about that for a minute.

"Well I guess you can call me Isabella, but only sometimes," I allowed. He smiled.

"You can call me Eddie, but only sometimes," he told me back.

"Okay."

Alice impatiently shoved a pile of dresses at me. They were all pink and the scratchy kind. I scowled.

"Alice, these are a scratchy material."

She made her eyes really sad and I crossed my arms.

"No. I will choose something comfy." I marched past her into the closet and looked around. Alice sighed dramatically.

"I made you a different dress already, because I already saw you liking it. Personally, I wish it were more colorful, but…" she pulled out a silky black dress with dark red ribbons sewn into swirly patterns on it. It flared out at the waist, like the others, but it wasn't so poofy. I loved it immediately.

"It's perfect," I whispered. It was really pretty, and it reminded me of Edward. "Edward, look, it matches your eyes," I said to him. He smiled, but he didn't look very happy.

"My eyes shouldn't be those colors, Bella," he muttered. I shook my head. "I like your eye color, Edward. What else would they be?"

"They could be black and gold if I ate a different diet." "Why would you want a different eye color?" He looked at me and laughed.

"I don't know, this is a silly conversation, isn't it?" I looked over at Alice and saw that her eyes were black and gold. I didn't want to upset Edward, so I just kept it in my head so I could think about it later.

Alice pulled the closet door shut and got me out of my pajamas, helping me put the pretty dress on. I came back out, wondering what the boys would wear, but especially Edward.

"Edward, what are you going to wear? I want to match you." Edward smiled.

"Don't worry, I have just the thing."

He ran to his room with his super speed. He came back in really fast, and he looked like he did when we played Prince and Princess. He looked handsome. Really, _really,_ handsome. He was in a black suit with a dark red tie. He always combed his hair when he pretended to be a prince, but his hair was really messy from all that running. I giggled and combed through it with my fingers.

"Hey, none of that!" he protested, shaking his head so it got messy again. I laughed and he twirled me around. I actually liked it better when it was messy, but I loved to put my hands through it. His hair was really soft.

Alice _awwwed_ and took a picture before I could say anything. I heard the click and hid my face in Edward's shoulder. Alice laughed from behind me.

"Too late. It's perfect. Now you can remember this forever, Bella. Don't you want that?" I frowned. When she put it that way… I turned around and stuck my tongue out at her. She laughed and danced her way into the closet to find what she wanted to wear. Jasper left the room to get dressed too.

Alice came out at the exact moment Jasper came in. Edward grabbed the camera. Alice was wearing a metallic pink dress that shimmered down her and flared at the waist like a ballet tutu. She had a silver belt on with a little bow, and Jasper had a silver tuxedo on with a pink tie. Now it was my turn to _awww_. They met in the middle of the room and kissed, and Edward took a picture. _Click. _Alice spun around and pouted at him.

"Way to ruin the moment, Edward." He raised an eyebrow at her. She seemed to realize something and laughed. "Now it's time to accessorize!" she squealed delightedly. Edward and I groaned, and Jasper laughed at us. Alice made him accessorize a lot.

Edward picked me up and whispered, "We could run away now. We might make it." I giggled.

"But we must stay," I said putting on a martyr face, even though I was having fun. Alice tsked at us.

"You're so ungrateful, Edward. Bella is having fun, aren't you Bella?"

"Yep." I said, popping the p. "But accessorizing is _not_ fun." She sighed.

"But I've finally got you wearing something nice. Besides, it's part of the game." I sighed back at her. She pulled out two huge cases from the top of her closet. "Makeup, and nail polish," she announced, very business-like. She opened the makeup case.

"First, Edward, let's touch up your eyeliner."

She pulled it out and was going to try to put it on him, but he snatched it out of her hand.

"I know how to do my own eyeliner, Alice," he said, irritated. He looked in the little mirror and put more on.

"I want some," I said immediately. I'd never worn makeup before. I hadn't even ever seen Edward put it on, but I knew he wore it. Alice put her hand out for the eyeliner as Edward finished, but he ignored her, instead pulling me onto his lap. I looked up and shut my eyes, smiling. I felt a little tickle on my eyelids. He kissed me on the nose.

"Done, Bella."

He held a mirror up for me. My eyes had black all around them, it made them look big. It was cool. I smiled and showed everyone my eyes, even though they already watched him put it on me.

Alice looked confused, like she was excited and sad about something. I tilted my head at her. She sighed.

"I don't know whether to be happy she's wearing makeup or sad that she looks like you, Emo-ward." I frowned.

"Emo-ward? What?"

Edward snorted. "Lame, Alice. For a psychic, couldn't you at least come up with something better than that? I'm not even emo." This time Jasper snorted.

"You might as well be. I'm the empath here, I know these things."

Edward rolled his eyes, tossing Jasper the eyeliner. "Okay Mr. Empath. If you're so in touch with emotions, have at it, bro."

Jasper cringed away from the makeup like it was poison. "Uh-uh. Not happening. Completely hetero, right here!"

"What's hetero?" I asked Edward.

"Okay, enough!" Edward almost shouted at Jasper. He pulled me close. "I'll tell you later, alright Sweetheart?" He called me names like Sweetheart when he got protective of me.

"Okay. Will you paint my nails black like yours?" I asked.

"Sure, but remember, I'll have to take all of this off before I take you home. Your mom and dad can't see." "I know," I said sadly. Maybe Alice needed to take pictures after all.

"Excellent!" Alice yelled, jumping up and grabbing the camera. Alice grabbed a little black bow and placed it in my hair. Edward growled under his breath, and messed with the bow himself. He was getting protective again. His nails were already black, but he grabbed some black nail polish and put my hand on his knee. He started doing my nails black.

I once tried to do my nails purple by myself, but it got really messy and then I tripped and spilled it on the floor. He didn't get it messy at all. I liked looking like Edward. I heard Alice taking pictures, but I ignored her. Instead I watched Edward's face while he focused on doing my nails. When they were done he blew on them gently. It was really cold but they dried super fast.

"One more picture and then we have to get ready to go. It's a school night." I sighed. Edward picked me up and turned to face Alice.

"Say cheese," she told me. I smiled but didn't say cheese. That was kind of stupid. _Click. _Edward put me down and Alice got me back into my pajamas. I found a necklace in the closet.

"Do you ever make Jasper wear girly-things?" I asked her. She laughed.

"Every now and then, if he doesn't behave the way I want him to."

I laughed, imagining Jasper in a necklace. I went back out and Edward used something soft and wet to gently wipe the makeup off of my eyes. Alice took off my nail polish and I hugged her goodbye. Then I hugged Jasper, and Edward picked me up.

"Bye Alice, Jasper. See you next week," Edward said. He carried me downstairs, and grabbed a handful of cookies. He gave them to me. I stuffed my mouth full and asked.

"What's hetero?" I asked between bites.

"Not such big bites, Bella. It means that he love's only Alice, and that he's not in love with boys." I laughed. What a silly word to make up. I ate about half the cookies by the time he reached my house a few minutes later. I didn't want him to go, but the warmth of my nightlight looked so nice and I was getting tired.

He tucked me in, and kissed me on the top of my head. "Goodnight, Bella."

"Goodnight, Edward. Do you _promise_ you'll come see me tomorrow?"

"I promise," he told me, his pretty red eyes said he was telling the truth, so I didn't complain when, a moment later, he was gone. I looked across my room. The only sign he had been here was a little wind blowing my yellow curtains back and forth. I knew he'd be here tomorrow so I had no problem closing my eyes and drifting off to sleep.


	2. A Strange Bouquet (age 5)

I woke up and rubbed the sleepiness out of my eyes. "Where's Edward?" I mumbled. Mommy laughed.

"Edward's not here, honey. You're awake now." She was standing at my door smiling at me.

"Right," I said. "You were talking about him in your sleep all morning," she said. I could tell she thought it was funny. "Do you have a crush on your imaginary friend, Bella?"

"He's not imaginary!" I said automatically, but then I realized that was probably not a good thing to say. "Well, at least, he isn't in my mind… Did you say a crush?" I asked her suddenly, my eyes narrowing. She laughed again.

"It's okay, sweetie. I had a crush on my imaginary friend when I was your age, too."

"He's my best friend, Mom!" I protested. Everyone knows you can't have a crush on your best friend!

"What about Angela? Shouldn't your best friends be girls?" Daddy said as he came in, frowning at me.

"Oh, hush, Charlie." Mommy said, "Bella can have imaginary boyfriends if she wants."

"Not under my roof," Daddy muttered.

"Angela is really nice," I said, trying to change the subject, "and I need to get ready for school. Shoo!" I said. Mommy and Daddy laughed and left, closing my door behind them.

I opened my closet and looked for something to wear. I had started Kindergarten in August and I really liked it. My teacher, Mrs. Cope, really liked me and called on me a lot. I had most of the answers because I already knew how to read and write. I wasn't the best at math, but Edward was helping me sometimes, if I remembered to bring my homework to his house. I found a dark purple skirt and a white t-shirt with an apple on it that looked nice together so I put that on with my sparkly black shoes. I brushed my hair and my teeth and went downstairs. Mommy was flipping pancakes on the stove and Daddy was reading a newspaper, drinking coffee. I got a plate from the table and Mom put a pancake on it. I poured some syrup on it and cut it up.

"What does Edward look like?" Mommy teased. "Is he cute?" My daddy grunted, and scowled at the newspaper.

"He is very nice-looking. He likes to wear black, and he has really messy hair." Daddy cleared his throat.

"I don't wanna hear anymore of this Edward business, got it? You can't have boyfriends until you're married."

"Not my boyfriend," I muttered, but they didn't hear me. Why did I have to talk in my sleep? I ate my pancake glumly, wondering if you could fix sleep-talking. There had to be some way to do it. Maybe I could look at the library or ask Jessica.

"Speaking of friends, who all is coming to your birthday party next week?" Mommy asked.

"_Everybody!_" I groaned and put my head on the table. Mommy and Daddy made me invite practically the whole class. Daddy laughed.

"I'm not much of a party person either." I lifted my head with an idea.

"How about you stay at the party, Mom, and Daddy and I can sneak away and hide. I'll open presents later." Mommy and Daddy laughed, and Mommy took my dishes to the sink.

"It'll be fun, Bella. You'll see. Charlie, will you do the dishes? I need to get to the school and Bella does, too." Daddy got up and walked to the sink. Mommy grabbed her purse, and I got my backpack and she took me to school.

When I put my stuff away in my cubby Mike Newton came up to me.

"Hi Bella."

"Hi Mike," I said, because even though I didn't really want to talk to him, I didn't want to be mean to him either.

"Do you want to be my girlfriend?"

"No, Mike. I already said that last time. You should just ask Jessica to be your girlfriend." He frowned at me.

"She's not as pretty as you, though."

"It's not about pretty. It's about love," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Love?" he made a face and walked away.

Mrs. Cope told us all to come to the carpet. We were learning about different types of bugs, which are actually insects. Jessica sat by me and whispered about how gross they were.

"Bella, what are the three parts of an insect?" Mrs. Cope asked me, even though I wasn't raising my hand.

"Um- head, thorax, abdomen," I answered.

"That's right."

She turned to Katie to ask her a question about antennae. Then she read a book I'd already read a hundred times.

"I'm so bored," I whispered to Angela and Jess.

"Lunch is coming up in a few minutes, and then we have the whole recess," Angela said. Jessica looked even more bored than me.

"And then we have _math_, Angela," she said rudely. I wasn't too worried about math, because Edward always made sure I could understand it when I showed him the hard problems.

Finally, finally, _finally_, Mrs. Cope got up and told us to get in a single file line. She walked us to the lunchroom and we all ate pizza, except for Lee Stephens and Samantha Wells, who both bring cold lunches. When recess came around I was still thinking about Edward. I must've been thinking really hard because I didn't realize my shoes were untied and tripped on the blacktop. I fell really hard on my hands and knees. My face scraped a little bit, but it didn't hurt that much. Last year I broke my arm on a trampoline, and that was a lot worse. My knees really hurt, but I tried not to cry, because I didn't want Lauren to call me a baby. I got up, ignoring the sting of the little cuts. I walked over to the woods, where I liked to play by myself. I had to make sure none of the teachers saw me. We were supposed to stay on the playground or blacktop.

I sat down on a tree that fell down and started brushing the sand and dirt off of my knees. Lauren couldn't find me here, so I even cried a little, but quietly. All of a sudden I heard sticks breaking behind me. I gasped and turned around and there was Edward.

"Oh, Bella!" he said in a whisper voice, putting a small white box on the ground and sitting by me. He gave me a big hug.

"I just fell," I sniffed. He picked up the white box and opened it up. He got out a white cloth and cleaned off my knees, saying nothing, then my hands, and my elbows.

Finally he pulled my face up to look at him. He cleaned off the scrape on my cheek.

"How did you know I was hurt?" I asked.

"I saw you fall and ran to get a First-Aid kit," he said simply.

"You watch me at recess?" I asked, surprised.

"I watch you whenever I can," he said honestly, but sounding a little embarrassed.

"That sounds boring," I said. It did. When you had super-speed, there's probably a lot of more fun things to do than go to school. He laughed again.

"Not really. I don't like Mike Newton though. He gets on my nerves." Now I laughed.

"You don't even have to talk to him!"

"But I have to hear his thoughts," he said. I forgot about that.

"Yeah, that would be really annoying." He put bandaids on my knees, and I focused on him, so I wouldn't think about the blood on them. I looked at his face for a while.

"Why are your special teeth down?" I asked him. He closed his lips tightly together.

"Sometimes I can't help it when they come down," he said.

"How come you don't want me to see?"

"Bella, one of the teachers is going to come looking for you soon. You need to go back out there and play with your friends."

"You are my friend. I wish I could just stay with you all the time," I said, but I knew it was important not to get caught.

"Me too, babydoll," he said "We have all of tonight though. You'll see me later. Go now, Jessica's looking for you." I got up uneasily and walked away, and when I turned around again, he was gone.

It took forever, but eventually I made it to bedtime. My daddy tucked me in.

"You seem awfully excited to go to bed," he said.

"Um- I'm almost 6!" I blurted, trying not to laugh because that was ridiculous, but he believed me.

"One more week," he said, and kissed me on the head. "Get some sleep, okay, Bella? I love you."

"I love you, too," I said. _Please go to bed right now. Please fall asleep right away, so I can go to Edward's house, _I thought. He got up and turned on my night light, and shut my big light off. He left the room. I moved my feet back and forth impatiently, and sat straight up in bed.

It seemed to take forever but finally Edward showed up. He picked me up out of bed and jumped to the ground with me. Edward lifted me up so I was on his shoulders and I put my arms around his neck, resting my chin on top of his head.

"Hold on tight," he reminded me and he ran into the woods. His house was pretty close compared to his Mommy and Daddy's house. It took about a minute and a half less to get there, and Edward could run really far in a minute and a half. His house was a lot smaller too, but I liked it more that way. He said that I'm the only one who comes to visit, and he lives alone so he doesn't need a lot of space. He moved me down into his arms when we were about to go in.

"Welcome back, beautiful," he told me. "Are you hungry?" I nodded.

"I didn't eat a lot of my dinner because Mommy was at work late with teacher meetings and Daddy tried to cook. He burned the spaghetti and it tasted really yucky." He laughed.

"I probably wouldn't be great at making spaghetti either, but I can microwave some ravioli for you, if you want."

"Thank's, Edward," I said, grateful. He chuckled again and pulled a can out of a cabinet that was always stocked with random food. Edward didn't start buying food until he began bringing me to his house to visit at night. He said he never bothered to learn how to cook- if he wanted food, he'd just buy it when he wanted it.

His fridge didn't have much, but he had a few frozen foods in the freezer. He asked me to make a list whenever Mommy took me grocery shopping, of stuff that I wanted and later he would buy them. He pulled a can opener out of the silverware drawer.

"I had to leave after your recess ended, so tell me about the rest of your day," he said, dumping the ravioli into a bowl and putting it in the microwave.

"Well Mike had to leave cause he got the stomach flu. Math was easier today and we didn't have any homework. And Mrs. Cope says I'm already reading at a 2nd grade level, so I got to get some books in the library with the big kids."

"That's wonderful! Tomorrow you should bring some and read to me! And please promise to wash your hands a lot at school. If that vile Mike Newton get's you sick I swear-" I laughed, interrupting him.

"I promise. I don't want the stomach flu. Ick."

"I hope he's absolutely miserable," he said spitefully. I rolled my eyes.

"Be nice."

"No promises," he said innocently. I laughed.

_Beep Beep Beeeeeeep._ The microwave was done. He got the ravioli out and pulled a fork out of the drawer. We walked to his living room and sat on his comfy black couch. He blew on the ravioli and handed it to me.

"Be careful, love. It's very hot."

He looked worried and blew on it again. I picked up the fork and cut every ravioli square in half, so it would get cool faster. He sat next to me on the couch and put an arm around me.

"My smart little Bella," he cooed at me and I wiggled my way onto his lap. He took the fork from my hand and stabbed a piece of ravioli. He put it up to his lips and blew on it until there was no more steam coming off it. "Open up," he murmured, and I did. Sometimes he fed me like a baby for some reason, but I didn't mind. He fed me until I wasn't hungry anymore.

"Just one more," he promised, "and then dessert." I opened my mouth one more time and he put another piece in my mouth. he scooted me off his lap and got up with the bowl, going back to the kitchen. I sat waiting criss-cross applesauce, turned toward his spot. He came out a second later with a half-gallon of chocolate raspberry ice cream. He sat down criss-cross facing me and put the ice cream in between us. He tossed the lid to the coffee table and handed me a spoon. I took a big bite and it was delicious. His special teeth came down, and he started eating it too. "Mmm," he said, "I thought this sounded good." I nodded. It was very good.

Mommy would freak out if I ate right out of the carton at home. She is very afraid of germs, but Edward can't get sick, so he doesn't have germs, and my germs won't hurt him. I saw he had an arm behind him and he was smiling at me. Suddenly he pulled out a can of whipped cream from behind his back and grinned. I scooped a huge spoonful of ice cream and held it over to him. He put a swirl of whipped cream on top, and it looked pretty _and _yummy. I put the whole thing in my mouth and saw Edward actually filling his entire mouth with whipped cream. I laughed while he swallowed it all in one gulp. "Come here," he said laughing. I moved the ice cream over and went over to him. He gave me a whipped cream mustache and I laughed, trying to lick it off, but I couldn't. I had to use my fingers. Together, we really could eat a lot of ice cream.

"Edward, is it okay to talk to my mom and dad about you? Mommy heard me talking in my sleep, and they think you're my imaginary friend."

"I know. Yes, it's okay, but only for a while. Imaginary friends don't last very long, Bella, and you're reaching _that age_ for imaginary friends." _That age_ is what we say when we have to stop doing some things we like. Edward says life is full of _that age_s.

"What if I just lived with you, and never had to keep secrets?" I drifted off for a second.

"Your mommy and daddy would miss you very much," he said.

"I know. I just like to imagine sometimes."

"Someday," he said, "when you're all grown up, you can live with me if you want."

"How long is that?"

"Too long and not long enough. About eleven years." Edward said a lot of stuff that confused me.

"That is a very long time."

"But I'll still be here," he told me, "the whole time. Someday, I won't even have to be a secret, but right now your parents wouldn't get it."

"Kay." I said. Edward took another bite of ice cream.

"Ugh. I'm going to make myself sick," he said, "Are you done?"

"Yes," I patted my full stomach. He put the lid on the ice cream and brought it back to the kitchen.

"You know, Bella, I've been working on something that you reminded me of a little bit ago…"

"Really? What are you working on?" I asked, curious.

"Come look," he said and walked me down the hallway, past his music-room and his closet-room, to his extra room. Alice said he needed it, and Edward didn't want to argue, but he never used it for anything. When he opened the door, I gasped. The walls used to be plain white, and it was completely empty. Now, the walls and ceiling were painted all sorts of colors. It was mostly deep blue, but it also had dark purple and all the reds, oranges, and golds that make a sunset. He'd painted me a sky full of stars.

There was a thick blanket right in the middle of the room on the floor. "You complained that the clouds covered up everything pretty, so now we can go stargazing in Washington."

"Edward," I whispered, unable to speak, "this is amazing,"

"I hope you like it," he said quietly.

"I _love_ it," I corrected him. He led me over to the blanket and we lay down and looked at the ceiling. He pointed up at it.

"That line of three stars is called Orion's belt. There's the big dipper and the little dipper." I recognized those. I cuddled up to him and put my head on his chest. He pointed out lots of constellations I'd never heard of before. He wrapped the blanket we were on over me.

"I don't want you to get cold," he told me. I didn't really mind the cold, I was used to his skin, but when I cuddle him too long my teeth chatter and he doesn't like that.

"How long did this take?" I marveled.

"A long time," he admitted.

"There has to be something you're not the best at!" I said. It wasn't fair that he was good at everything, but it was really cool. He laughed, and then frowned.

"I'm not the best at being a good person." He muttered something else that I couldn't hear. He wasn't happy now, and I had to fix that. I hated it when he was sad.

"Don't you ever say that, Edward! You are more than a good person! You're caring and wonderful and you're a good listener. You make me happy and I love you." He was happy now. He sat up and held me super tight.

"Thank you, Bella. I love you, too. I don't deserve you, but you make me happy too." I let him hold me and hold me and hold me.

Finally, though, he said he had to take me home. "You need to sleep, love," he said.

"Will you play me my song, Edward?" I asked.

"Of course."

He stood up and carried me to the music-room. This was one of my favorite rooms. One of the walls was covered in shelves of CDs from the floor to the ceiling. He let me listen to his favorites. He also had a huge grand piano, that was black and really shiny. He was an amazing piano-player, but he was amazing at everything.

When I was a baby he wrote me a lullaby, and he still played it for me whenever I asked. He sat down on the piano bench with me next to him. He kissed the top of my head, got situated, and started to play. I listened to him play carefully. I knew every note by heart. His fingers did everything perfect. He was so beautiful, and so was my lullaby. When he finished the last part I was very sleepy. He picked me up and walked me through the house. "Time to get you to bed," he said. I was too tired to argue.

On his way out, while he walked past the warm fireplace I noticed he had put a vase of flowers on the mantel.

"You got flowers," I mumbled sleepily. He stopped to let me look at them. There were black roses and white calla lilies all mixed together. "What a strange bouquet," I said, my voice hazy with tiredness. He didn't say anything. "It's beautiful."

"Yes," he said, brushing some hair out of my eyes, "Yes, it is," and then he was running.


	3. Tomorrow and Always (age 6)

When I woke up I groaned. Today I had to have a birthday party- well, technically two, but I wasn't worried about the one with Edward. I sat up just in time for Mommy to barge right in and turn my lights on. "Rise and shine, Birthday Girl!"

I looked right at her and joked, "I changed my mind," and then rolled back into bed, pretending to sleep.

"Ha-ha," she said sarcastically, pulling my covers back and scooping me out of bed onto my feet. "It'll be so much fun, Bella!"

"Ugh!" I stamped over to my closet like I saw some girls do on TV. When she turned around to leave I stuck my tongue out at her back, so she wouldn't see.

"Wear the red dress today," she called from the stairs. I actually really liked that dress. It was a squarish pattern called _plaid _and it looked nice with my black tights and hairbow.

When I went down to the kitchen Daddy patted my shoulder sympathetically. "Just one day and you won't have to deal with it for a whole year," he fake-whispered so Mommy would hear. She laughed.

"You two are absurd. Not liking birthday parties, not even your own?" I rolled my eyes and she handed me a bowl of cereal, and Daddy some coffee.

Once I snuck a drink when he wasn't looking, but it was nasty. Alice gave me a fancy coffee that was cold and really sweet. That was really yummy, but Edward got protective and told her I wouldn't be able to sleep if I had any more, and why wasn't it decaf? Alice called him a spoilsport and offered me more but I didn't drink the rest after that. If Edward didn't want me to have too much, then I shouldn't have too much because it was probably bad for me.

The good thing about birthdays was cake and presents, but unfortunately you need to get those at a party. Parties meant three bad things when you put them together: loud, crazy, and attention. Last year at my party I tripped and knocked a whole thing of juice off the table and everybody laughed while Mommy had to clean it up. It was so embarrassing!

I was very impatient for recess because I wanted to show Edward my red dress. I hadn't been able to sneak off to the woods since the day I skinned my knee last week, because my mom was on recess duty, but Edward said he was still out there, just where no one could see him. Hopefully, since this week it was Mr. Banner's turn, I could manage it.

Sure enough, he was distracted since Mike, Eric, and Tyler were all wrestling each other and Tyler got a bloody nose. Nobody noticed me walk right into the woods, and I giggled quietly at the sneakiness I felt. I walked far enough that no one would see me and when I turned around Edward was walking behind me.

I jumped in surprise, but he pretended he didn't see that and jokingly whined, "Are we going much further?" I pouted and shoved him.

He laughed. "Hi Bella. I like your outfit. You look beautiful. We're far enough, you know. They won't hear us."

"Kay," I said, my heart beating faster than normal when he complimented me. _You can't have a crush on your best friend!_ I reminded myself. I'd never had a crush before, but I read about them a lot, and that was very crush-like behavior.

I heard someone yell in pain from the playground. "Mike Newton! Get down here and apologize to Eric right now!"

"No! It's war!" he yelled back.

"Boys are weird," I muttered.

"Yes, we are," Edward said pleasantly, "but girls are weirder." I noticed his eyes were redder than yesterday.

"Hey! I didn't mean _you._ I meant the looneybirds beating eachother up on the playground." He laughed.

"I didn't mean you either." His lips brushed my forehead and he chuckled, "I meant the blonde ones who follow me around for no reason."

"What blondes?" I asked, panicking for a second. Surely he'd tell me if he got a girlfriend! He laughed at my expression.

"The weird ones."

"Right," I said awkwardly.

He laughed again. "Feel six yet?"

"Very," I said sarcastically. "Completely different than yesterday."

He frowned. "Tyler and Eric seem to think so."

"Huh?"

"Don't you wonder _why_ those looneybirds are beating eachother up on the playground? Besides the fact that they're weirdo boys?" I giggled at that.

"Why, Edward?"

"They're fighting over you." I frowned.

"That's illegal. Like people-napping or something,"

That made him smile. "It's a concept as old as time, Bella." He was teasing me now. "Whoever wins gets the affection of the girl. But you're right, sometimes boys do like to fight for no reason. My brothers for example. Twenty-four seven." he explained, kind of exasperated.

"What about you? Do you like to fight?"

"Every now and then I like to fight Jasper," he admitted. "It's a challenge for both of us. He is an excellent fighter, but he also has to focus so I don't read his mind."

"Interesting," I said, but I didn't like the idea of Edward fighting. What if he got hurt? "Just- you _are_ careful, right?"

"I don't have to be, Bella, because I can't get hurt."

"Well be careful anyway!" I said irritably.

"Yes, Ma'am," he said, smiling a little.

"Maybe all boys are weird after all!" I said, rolling my eyes, but I smiled too.

"Hmmph," he said, then he pulled two little black gloves out of the pocket of his jeans. I'd seen him wear those kinds of gloves, ones that had no fingertips, before. He took my hand and put it on. It fit perfectly. "Happy birthday," he said, putting the other one on. "Tell them you found them in the grass, okay? They'll believe you. What do you think?"

The gloves were silky and each had a tiny black bow on the wrist, matching perfectly with my outfit. "They're adorable!" I said excitedly. I'd never gotten to keep my presents, like _with _me, because Mommy and Daddy could find out about Edward.

I had to leave a lot of my stuff at Edward's family's house. Most of it was clothes from Alice. Rosalie gave me some dolls, Emmett liked to give me silly things like Whoopie Cushions. Carlisle liked to give me books about science, Jasper liked to give me books about stuff that happened a long time ago. Esme usually baked me treats and gave me crafts to do.

Edward gave me an iPod last year with his piano songs on it, and some of his CDs that I liked to listen to at home, but Alice said she saw me getting caught with it, and what was he thinking? Edward and Alice fight a lot, but not about serious stuff, mostly. Edward said Rosalie and him fight a lot, but I've never even seen them talk to eachother. Rosalie is nice to me, but Edward doesn't really like her, I don't think.

"I'm glad you like them," he said, kissing my hand like a princess, and I giggled.

"Thank you, Edward." He stood up and pulled out his iPhone.

"Don't get mad at me, okay? Just one picture," he said. I sighed dramatically, but of course I wasn't mad at him. I smiled and made sure the camera could see my new gloves. _Click._ "Beautiful," he said and picked me up. He set it as his wallpaper.

"You better go break the bad news that fighting over a person is illegal to the looneybirds. See you tonight."

He was gone then, but I said "Bye, Edward." in case he could still hear me. I checked to make sure no one saw me and ran quickly to the swing set, because one was open. The swings were almost never open because they all got taken by the people who ran fastest. I was a bad runner so I immediately went for that swing. I got it because almost everybody was over looking at Mike who was getting a time-out on the bench. His cheek was really red but since Tyler and Eric were gone, I guessed they were at the nurse, or got sent home.

I looked and noticed no teachers were out there, but a second later Mr. Banner came out of the school. "Your mom is here to pick you up." Mike got up, scowling at the ground and followed Mr. Banner back into the building. I shook my head. Weirdo boys.

I saw Jessica over in the group of kids watching Mike leave. She was scowling at me. I jumped off the swing, stumbling for a few steps and ran over to her. "Jess! What's wrong?" I asked.

"You have to be kidding! You have three boyfriends, and you know I kind of like Mike and Eric! That's breaking girl code! I thought we were friends!"

"We are! I don't have _any_ boyfriends!"

"They all said you said you were their girlfriend," she said suspiciously.

"Ew, no. Boys are gross," I told her. "Not all of them," I corrected, thinking of Edward, "but most are. _They _are."

"Oh. They were lying?"

"Yes!" Finally, she was getting it. "When Mike asked me, I told him he should ask you instead. No offense, Jessica, but he's kind of a dumb-head."

She laughed. "Must be a boy thing. Sorry I got mad at you. Lauren hates you even more now, though, cause she likes Tyler, but don't tell anyone or she'll hate me for telling you."

"I won't," I promised and was about to go back to the swing but it was taken again.

Mike was grounded starting tomorrow, which I found out because he came to my birthday party. Eric and Tyler were there too, but luckily instead of fighting, they were all ignoring eachother. Daddy brought chocolate cupcakes from the store after work, because Mommy didn't have time to make any, she was decorating the house with streamers and balloons with crazy patterns.

I made sure to ask Mommy to put Mike and Eric by Jessica. Lauren wasn't invited because Mommy knew I didn't like her which was lucky, but that meant Tyler kept trying to sit by me so I got Angela and Katie to sit by me. Mommy passed out the cupcakes and nobody was supposed to eat them until after they sang Happy Birthday, but everybody cheats on that so lots of people licked frosting off their fingers first.

Mom stuck six candles on my cupcake and lit them. I tried to think of a good wish. _Hmm... I know!_ I saw a motorcycle at Daddy's work one time, and it looked really cool. Everybody sang Happy Birthday to me, except some people sang the Happy Birthday from Madagascar and it mostly sounded like yelling.

"Make a wish!" Mommy squealed, and I tried to ignore her leaning over me with a camera. I knew my dad was hiding in the stairs, but he was watching me too. _I wish to go for a motorcycle ride._ I thought and blew out the candles.

By now, lots of the kids only had half their cupcakes left. I took the candles off mine and licked the frosting off the bottoms of them. I ate the bottom of the cupcake first, so there was barely any cake and mostly frosting and sprinkles. I grinned and shoved it all in my mouth. It was chocolate frosting with red sugar-sprinkles, and I got a whole mouthful of it! Yum!

When we got to the presents I was watching Mike and Jessica. He was looking at her differently. He leaned over to Eric and whispered something. He smiled and they shook hands. What? Maybe he decided to ask Jessica to be his girlfriend after all. I hoped so.

"Bye, thanks for coming," I said a little too happily when the last person left. Daddy and I breathed a sigh of relief at the same time when the door closed which made us all laugh. Daddy had done the cleaning up while I was opening presents, so there was no mess when we walked to the living room.

I picked up as much stuff as I could and Mommy carried the rest up to my bedroom. We put the books in my bookshelves and the puzzles in a nice, neat stack in my closet, and the dolls and the toys in my toybox.

"I'm tired," I said, pretending to yawn, and getting out my pajamas.

"You don't want to stay up late, tonight, Bella? It's your birthday." I made my face look super-duper tired.

"No, mom. Thank you for the party, even though parties are not my style." She laughed.

"You're welcome. Alright, if you're tired I'll let you get some rest. I'm a little worn out myself. I'm sure your father is, too. Goodnight." I felt a little guilty about lying to her, because I really wasn't that tired. She kissed me and left.

"Come down and say Goodnight to Dad when you're ready."

I hurried into my pajamas and brushed my teeth so I wouldn't get cavities and ran downstairs. Daddy was in front of the TV, snoring a little. I went up and hugged him. He woke up.

"Goodnight, Daddy."

"'Night, Bella," he said sleepily and he got up to go to bed. I jumped into bed full of energy, but the door was shut so Mommy didn't see how hyper I was. That night it didn't take long at all for Edward to get here.

I put my gloves back on when he arrived. "Alice is having a blast already," he told me, laughing. I laughed with him, imagining Alice getting ready. "She was very bossy today."

"Were you at your family's house today?"

"Not really, but I stopped by a little bit ago."

"Huh." Sometimes I wondered why Edward didn't live with his family, but I got the feeling that he didn't want to talk about it. "I guess we better go crash her party," I joked.

"Guess we better," he agreed bending down for me to climb onto his back.

As it turned out, Alice _was_ having a blast when we got there, and apparently she'd been at it a while, cause the decorating was incredible. "Whoa," I said. There were vines of roses draped over everything in the house, in all different colors. Over the TV, the back of the couch, around the counter and table, around the edges of the ceiling. Purple, black, red, blue, white. It was like a jungle of them.

Alice jumped over to me, "Happy Birthday! Do you like it? I saw you liked the roses at Edward's place."

"This is awesome!" I said. Music was playing in the background. I didn't know that song, but I'd heard it on the radio once and liked it. There was a giant chocolate cake with blue polka-dots on it. "Thank you!" I squealed.

There were presents in shiny silver wrapping paper with blue and black ribbons tied into pretty bows at the top. There was glitter all over the floor and on the counter. Yeah, Alice sure had fun today.

I grinned and Esme came over and picked me up in a hug. "Hi Esme."

"Hi Bella, Happy Birthday. I was going to save you some cake batter, but Edward reminded me that it might have salmonella, and _absolutely not_, didn't you Edward?" she winked at him. One of my hands reached out to him and he held it. I liked to hold his hand because it felt nice and reminded me that he cared.

"That's okay. I think I'm gonna be all caked out by the time I'm done!" Carlisle laughed and looked at Edward.

"You think I don't test the eggs for salmonella?" Edward looked embarrassed.

"I didn't know, and I wasn't going to take any chances!" I looked over to Emmett and Rosalie. Emmett was laughing and Rosalie was rolling her eyes.

"That's Edward's way of being sweet," Alice joked to me.

"I can be sweet," he complained and he went over to the counter, plucking a white rose from it and coming back over to me.

"What? Ugh!" Alice yelled at him and ran over to rearrange the flowers. He carried me over to their stereo. He hit a few buttons and a slower song came on.

He set me down and knelt down to my height, handing me the rose. I blushed and he smiled as I took it. He stood up again and put out his hand.

"May I have this dance?"

"You may," I answered and put my hand in his. When the next beat came I started doing the steps to the side Alice showed me how to do when she taught me how to act like a lady for Prince and Princess. Edward twirled me around and I pretended to curtsey at the end, cause I was wearing pajama pants and those are kinda hard to curtsey in.

I was having so much fun dancing with Edward that I didn't notice we had and audience. His family was all applauding when we finished and Alice was holding a video camera. "Alice!" I covered my face cause I think it was red again. "Put that away!"

"No way!" she said, "I'm filming the whole party!"

"What on earth does she even do with all this stuff?" I muttered to Edward.

"She just puts it on the computer," he said, shrugging.

"Let's open your presents!" Alice said in her excited way.

"Kay," I said, which reminded me to look down at my hands at my gloves.

"You already got part of Edward's," she said, handing me a box. "This is from Esme and I." I put my flower in my hair.

I opened the box and it was a purple backpack that was full of something. I unzipped it to look inside. I pulled out a black jacket that was fluffy and warm on the inside, and really fashionable of course. Next I pulled out some light brown pants that had big pockets and a pair of thick purple socks. At the bottom was a pair of blue boots with laces that looked really tough, and a plastic container of big chocolatey granola bars.

"Edward is taking you hiking in a few days," Esme explained.

"Thanks!" I said to her and Alice and Edward. I was a little worried because I fall down easily, but I knew Edward would catch me if I did. Next, Rosalie came up with a smaller box. She handed it to me, giving me a sad smile and touching my hair. I felt Edward get really stiff next to me.

"Rosalie," he said warningly. I patted his shoulder reassuringly.

"Happy Birthday," she said, ignoring him. "This is from me, Emmett, and Jasper."

"Thanks," I said, looking at all three of them. I unwrapped it and saw the picture was a CD player. I was confused. Edward _had_ a CD player already, and so did his family. I looked to Edward for an explanation.

"They're going to give it to your dad at work tomorrow and you'll get to keep it at your house."

"Wow! Thanks!" I couldn't believe it! First the gloves, now a CD player, and I could actually _keep_ them!

"One more," Carlisle said coming forward with a smaller package. "This will need to stay at Edward's for now, I'm afraid," he said apologetically.

"That's okay," I said. I already got to keep the CD player and gloves, and if it was at Edward's I could still use it every night, whatever it was. I opened it up and there was a thick book with lots of big pictures and small words.

"_Wildlife of the Pacific Northwest,_" I read out loud.

"Edward can show you what animals you might see on your hike, so you'll recognize them."

"Cool. Thanks," I said, flipping through the pages. I saw lots of birds, deer, wolves, mooses, and bears. I looked at a page with a huge grizzly bear.

"Are we gonna see a grizzly bear, Edward?" I asked warily.

"_Grizzlies…_" Emmett said in a funny voice and when I looked up Rosalie was hitting him in the back of the head.

"Emmett!" she said, sounding more like a mommy instead of a wife.

Jasper watched them, amused, and told me, "Emmett really likes grizzly bears. They're his favorite animal."

"No, we won't see any bears," Edward answered my question from before.

"Hmm. What's _your_ favorite animal?" I asked Edward. This was something we hadn't talked about before. He fidgeted, looking nervous and amused at the same time.

"I'm not really much of an animal person, but I would have to say mountain lions."

"Have you ever met one? I don't think they're very friendly," I commented.

"They aren't, but I can take care of myself. With my extra strength, and all. What's your favorite animal, Bella?"

I thought for a minute. "Bats." Everybody laughed, but nobody said why. "What's so funny?"

"We all like bats around here is all," Emmett said.

"Bats, huh? Why?" Edward asked very seriously.

"They're cute and they look soft, all fluffy, you know. They're smart and have like super ears to find the bugs they eat and stuff. Plus, they can fly."

"Flying is a biggie," he agreed.

He flipped to a page in the middle of the book and there was a bat hanging upside down. "We might see some bats, I think." The bat was adorable, little with dark brown fur, and golden brown eyes.

"Aww…" I said. Everyone laughed, but Alice laughed the hardest. "Yeesh, guys. I'm not _that _funny," I muttered, and they just smiled.

"Do you have room for more cake?"

"Of course!" I pretended to be shocked. "It's _cake!_" Esme got a huge knife out of a drawer and cut out eight huge pieces. Everyone sat at the table. They were about to sing. "I already made a wish today, so you don't need to sing, you know." I said. It was awkward to listen to Happy Birthday twice in one day. It's not like I was born twice!

"We're singing anyway!" Alice said. I laughed. Guess that was that. Alice always got her way. I smiled and blushed, looking down at the tablecloth. Edward held my hand under the table. They were much better singers than my class, they sounded like a band!

I couldn't even believe it, but I finished all my cake, and it was amazing! "Esme, you could be a chef!"

"Thank you, Bella." Carlisle looked at Esme for a second.

"Gross, Dad!" Edward suddenly exclaimed, his mouth twisted in a frown. Emmett started howling with laughter and everyone laughed with him.

"You'll understand someday," Emmett said and everyone looked at me, not laughing anymore.

"Yuck," Edward said, scowling at them and muttered to me, "Grown-ups are weird." I laughed into my glass of milk that Esme poured for me.

"Technically-" Emmett started to say something but everyone gave him a look. I was confused, but I didn't bother to ask. If I needed to know something, Edward would explain it for me.

"Thank you for this party," I said. I was getting tired. Edward seemed eager to go.

"I'll see you guys later," he said, picking me up out of my chair. He put the book from Carlisle into the backpack and picked it up.

"Bye, Bella." I think they all said it at the same time.

"Buh-bye," I said sleepily, waving at them. Edward walked until we got to the woods and then he started running.

"Did you have fun?" he asked, stopping when we could see the light from my window.

"Yes. Thank you, Edward." I said. He took a few steps and then jumped into the tree by my window and climbed inside. He carried me over to my bed, and instead of putting my down, he lay down with me too. I curled up into a little ball up to his chest, warm, -even though he was cold- safe, and comfortable.

"My little Bella," he said, holding me tight. I sighed happily. "You might start seeing my in the daytime more often," he said quietly. "You're getting old enough to keep secrets.

"I hope I will," I replied honestly. He kissed me on top of the head and got up, tucking me in tight enough for me to pretend he was still there after he left.

"And you'll be back tomorrow?" I asked because even though I knew he would, I had to make sure. And instead of telling me I was silly and why did I have to ask every night, he held my hand for a second and squeezed it.

"Tomorrow and always. I promise," he said, and disappeared.


	4. Chapter 4

"Fancy seeing _you_ here," Edward joked, hanging in the tree and leaning into my room. "What a coincidence," I said, laughing. I opened my window before I got in bed this time. "I missed you today," I told him. It was raining extra hard and we had to have indoor recess. "I missed you, too, Sweetheart."

"The weather sucks. When does the sun come out?" "Well," Edward said, kind of nervously, "I can't come out in sunlight, at least not where anyone can see." "You can't?" I asked, surprised. "Why not?" "It's- embarrassing, Bella." he said, picking me up out of my room and shutting my window. "Tell meeee…" I whined. "Ugh!" he groaned, jumping out of the tree. "I sort of… sparkle," he said quickly. I gaped at him. Was he joking? "Cool!"

He laughed. "You _would_ think so!" "I wanna sparkle!" I exclaimed. "Maybe Alice can help you with that sometime." "Not pink sparkles," I checked. "No. Cool sparkles like blue or black or purple." "Yes!" I said grinning. He cracked up. "Alright, hold on," he put my arms around his neck and started running.

When he carried me into his house he flopped down onto the couch, putting his feet on the coffee table. "What do you want to do?" I shrugged. I didn't really care what we did, I was just glad to be hanging out with Edward. "I'll get some paper, do you want to color?" I nodded.

He only took a second and he was back with a big stack of paper, the nice kind that goes in printers, and colored pencils. I thought about what to draw for a long time. I looked around the room for idea's and remembered the flowers on the mantel. I got a black pencil for the outline, and set to work.

Lucky for me, Edward had erasables, because I messed up a lot. Eventually though, I got it done. Coloring it in was the easy part. "Do you want to be an artist when you grow up?" Edward asked. "I don't think so." I said, trying to make a shadow underneath the vase. "What do you want to be?" "I don't know." I never really thought about it. "I guess I could be a lot of things."

"You could. You are a very talented young lady." "I don't know about that." I said, thinking of all the things Edward could do. "Bella, love, don't say that. Just look at your drawing. It's even prettier than the actual flowers." I doubted that, but I didn't argue with him.

He got a piece of paper from the stack, and leaned back. He pulled a brown, a peach, a pink, and a purple colored pencil out of the box, and he started drawing. I couldn't see what he was drawing yet. I colored for a long time.

"Done!" I announced, holding it up. Edward looked at it. "Bella, that's incredible. Can I hang it on my fridge?" "Yeah!" I said, proudly. "I'm done, too." he said, showing me his picture.

"Whoa," I said. Edward had drawn a picture of me. It looked like a photograph. I felt my mouth fall open. "You drew _me_?" I said, blushing. "I couldn't think of anything in the world more beautiful to draw," "You're making me blush!" I said, covering my face, but I was grinning. I loved it when he said I was beautiful. He took our pictures and got up. I followed him into the kitchen. He pulled some magnets down and got the pictures put up.

His fridge had some other pictures I'd made when I was younger. Theres one with a mountain, one of his house… once I even tried to draw him, but it turned out awful. Edward is too handsome to draw. He hung it up anyway. He draws stuff that looks real. Mine look like cartoons, but he says he loves them that way, and its weird, but I can tell he means it.

Edward turned and picked me up, carrying me to the couch. "So you had indoor recess… what did you do?" "I absolutely kicked Mike's butt at Connect 4!" I said proudly, partly because I really did do amazing, but mostly cause I knew it would make him happy, since he hated Mike. "Good for you, babydoll."

"I also played a little bit of Barbies with Jessica, but only to make her happy. Barbies are so boring." I don't get why people think dolls are so exciting. They're not. "You don't need to do things just for other people, Bella. Just do what makes _you _happy."

"Like playing with you. It makes _me_ happy, even though Mommy and Daddy wouldn't like it, me being up past bedtime, and without a grownup." "No, they wouldn't, lot's of people wouldn't, actually, but it makes me happy, too."

"That's what I want. I want you to be happy, and me to be happy, too. It's the same for me." Edward pulled me into his arms with a big cold hug that made me warm inside.

"Let's go stargazing. You can read if you want." "The book from your daddy?" "Yep. That one." "Cool." I said and he carried me into the room with his amazing sky. "What was your birthday wish?" "Edward you KNOW I can't tell!" I said, but I knew I'd tell him anyway. "But I'm your best friend, Bella… I won't tell anyone, I promise." he said.

I did a huffy breath and said, "-to go for a motorcycle ride." really fast and quiet even though obviously no one could hear except him. He lives alone in the middle of the woods! "I didn't know you liked motorcycles. Interesting." he said. "I don't know if I like them or not. Not yet." "Well, you'll know soon." he said. "Maybe," I corrected. I wasn't totally sure how birthday wishes worked.

When he lay down on the floor he immediately wrapped me in the blanket and pulled me close. He handed me the book and I kinda used his chest as a pillow as I flipped it open.

There were lots of hard words (it was a grown-up book!) so I mostly looked at pictures. I did read a little about deer- apparently their antlers fall off every year.

"Where are the mountain lions, Edward?" I asked, flipping through, but I couldn't find the page. "Here," he said, opening it to the middle. "Whoa," I said, seeing it. "It looks like a _real_ lion!" Edward laughed. "They are pretty similar."

"If we met one together, would you be able to protect us?" I asked looking at the big claws and teeth and muscles of the lion in the picture. "Yes, but trust me, you _won't_ be meeting one." his voice sounded kinda darker.

"Huh. You know- I actually heard Daddy telling Mommy about the CD player. He's bringing it home tomorrow." "I know. I put a CD with your lullaby on it in the CD player. I would give you more but your father would be suspicious."

"Thanks Edward, I love my lullaby. I wish I could play piano like you." "I can teach you!" Edward said, grinning. "Really? Thanks!" I didn't have a piano at home, and I'd never learned a whole song, just sort of played around on Edward's piano every once in a while.

"Tomorrow we're going hiking, but we can start whenever you want." "Cool. Is it hard?" "It can be, but we'll start slow, okay?" "Kay," I said. I shut the book, getting tired and curled up to him.

I peeked up and looked at the swirling galaxies above me. None of the other kids I knew would ever get this. They didn't have a best friend like Edward. It made me feel so special and loved and happy. "Thank you. You're the best friend in the whole world." "You're better. Are you tired, Bella?"

"Just a little," I admitted, hiding my yawn. "Bella," he said, with a frustrated laugh. "Tell me next time. I'll get you to bed." I folded my arms and twisted to see his face. "Maybe I don't _want_ to go to bed." I challenged. "I could just stay here, you know." "Is that right?" he indulged me, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah," I said, but I didn't really feel the yawn coming this time and he laughed as I yawned right after I said that.

"C'mon, Bella," he chuckled, picking me up and cradling me to his chest. "I can't have you falling asleep in school tomorrow. Alice says the weather is nice, and cloudy, all day, so you'll see me at recess." Edward was carrying me outside.

I held on to his black t-shirt as he ran me home. It was soft and he smelled the way he always did, like honey and flowers. He got me inside and held me, laying down on my bed with me.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" I asked. It was bothering me, but I didn't know why. "Shh. No, Bella." "Hm. That's good." I muttered tiredly. I think he laughed a tiny bit, but it was so quiet, I couldn't tell if I imagined it.

He waited until I was practically asleep to get up and slip out my window. "Good night, Bella." he whispered from the tree. "Goodnight, Edward." I mumbled. "Come back." "I will, Bella," he said, closing my window and disappearing into the night.

**Sorry this chapter isn't very good. I just started high school and it's been a little busy. I think the next chapter should be easier to write, so if I don't update sooner, hopefully it will be a bit higher quality. I've been meaning to ask for feedback on the subject of relationship development. I'm not going to jump into anything, but it would be great for some advice on how to proceed with out making it creepy (basically, what age isn't going to scare you away? lol). Last but not least, I'd like to say thank you to everyone reading this story. I didn't expect any readers, and every follow/favorite/review has been a wonderful surprise. Thank you so much!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Happy almost-Halloween! I know that it's been forever, and I'd love to update as soon as I finish a chapter, but I'm not really allowed on the computer without permission (which is hard to get from my mom!), so I get to type maybe 15 minutes a week at best, unless I sneak on... ;) **

**Thank you so much to everybody who's been Following, Favoriting, and Reviewing! I was having a rough day, and didn't know where to take the this chapter, and I got this amazing review from Twihilass that made me laugh and instantly feel better when I really needed it. And I loved hearing your suggestions for it. Huge thank you!**

On Halloween morning I woke up before Mommy and Daddy. I went downstairs to the kitchen and looked at the cookies on the counter. I helped Mommy make them yesterday for the whole kindergarten. I got to mix the dough and cut out pumpkin shapes and turn the frosting orange with food coloring.

They looked really yummy, and it made me hungry, so I started making myself some breakfast. I stood up on a stool to reach the Honey Nut Cheerios and got down very carefully. I got out the milk for it, and sat down looking at everything Halloween-y around the room. Mommy and Daddy bought me a pumpkin that I put a face on. I'm not supposed to use knives so they gave me a permanent marker.

Alice actually made my costume, even though Mommy bought it. Alice owns her own store, that she calls a _boutique_. This year I was being a Victorian lady, except Alice said it was the goth kind, and that they didn't actually dress in so much black. Anyway it was this pretty lacy black dress, that I've worn for Prince and Princess before.

When I picked it out Mommy teased and said she was worried I'd try to wear it on days that it _wasn't_ Halloween. I probably would, if I thought I was allowed to. Edward loves the dress. Mommy says I need to wear more girly colors, but I don't really get why it matters.

Everybody got to wear their costumes to school today, so I took my bowl to the sink, and ran to where my costume was over the edge of the couch. I took off my pajamas and got into the dress. I already knew how to get it on, since I'd worn it before. It had these tiny metal clips that hooked together on the back. There were some ties in the front for a pretend corset but they were already done to my size, so I didn't need to mess with them.

I was glad it was long-sleeved, because I looked out the window and the wind was blowing the orange and red and brown leaves all over the yard. I was getting impatient so I went upstairs and into Mommy and Daddy's room. "Mommy!" I whispered, shaking her shoulder. "Will you get up and so my hair?" She rolled over, groaning 'cause she was still tired. "Ugh, why are you up so early?" "I dunno." I said.

"Fine," she said, yawning. "How do you want it done?" "However Victorian ladies do their hair." I replied. "Oh, that's right," she said, perking up a little. "it's Halloween." I crossed my arms. "Did you forget the best holiday _ever_?" She laughed. "I don't know if I'd go _that_ far!"

Mommy got up, getting her brush, and we went downstairs. I loved the feel of getting my hair brushed. She did something with a lot of bobby pins and my long hair looked really short, but I didn't know what to call the hairstyle.

School was fun, because we didn't actually do very much that was school-related. We read a poem about spiders and cut out pumpkin shapes and glued Jack-o-Lantern faces of construction paper on them.

Mike and Jessica came in together, holding hands like always. Jessica's hair was straightened. Mike had black hair dye in and a funny cape on that had a weird cone around his neck. I think he even had on lipstick, and I started laughing. Jessica let go of his hand, looking kinda mad and came up to me.

"Mike is cute, but he looks _stupid_!" she complained. "I wanted to match costumes though, so I made a prettier version." She had on a silly cape, too, except the cone wasn't as high, and it was hot pink. When I saw her talk, I noticed her teeth looked different.

"What's on your teeth?" I asked. "They're _fangs._" she said. "I'm a vampire." "What's that?" "It's a monster that bites people's necks and drinks all their blood out. They're dead, and come out of their coffins at night." "Lemme see." I said and Jessica opened her mouth wide. I blinked at the… _fangs_, attached to her teeth… Those were exactly like Edward's special teeth!

"Weird," I said, not realizing it was rude. "Well, what're you even supposed to be?" Jessica asked, irritated. "Uh- a Victorian lady," I said quietly. She got distracted by MIke trying to bite somebody. She looked at me, rolling her eyes. "Kay. Talk to you later."

At recess, I didn't run to the woods, but walked, because I didn't want to ruin my dress. I went far enough and then turned around because even though I couldn't hear Edward's footsteps, I knew he was there, and he was probably trying to sneak up on me again! I was going to tell him it wasn't gonna work this time, but suddenly I tasted something really yummy.

Edward put a Three Musketeers in my mouth as soon as I opened it. "Mmm," I said, forgetting that I was about to chew him out for being sneaky. "Hey, Bella. You'll be coming back too late from trick-or-treating tonight, so I thought you might want some candy now?" "Thanks, Edward. See my costume? I got to pick it and we went to Alice's store. It was funny cause I saw Alice, but Mommy didn't know I knew her already."

"Nice. Who did your hair?" he asked. "Mommy." I said. He pulled out a giant Reese's Peanut Butter cup and his special teeth came down. _Fangs?_ I wondered. He took a bite and handed me another one. "Alice sent you something," he said, laughing a little. "She said 'It's the middle of the day, so don't get all defensive this time,'" He pulled a glass bottle out of his backpack. It was a fancy coffee. I giggled. "Thanks."

"So… um… did you see Mike and Jessica's costumes?" His smile faltered, but he caught it. "Yeah. Vampires, huh?" "Yup." There was an awkward silence. "So…" he sighed. "I guess you figured it out, then." I gasped. "So you _are_?" "Yeah," he said. He wasn't smiling anymore. He looked sad. "Oh, Edward! How come you never told me?" I grabbed his hand. "I was going to wait until I was totally sure that you wouldn't run away from me." "Why would I run away from you?"

"Because I'm a monster." "No, Edward. You're my best friend, and if you ever call yourself a monster again, I'll get very angry." He was not a monster, even if he did bite people's necks and drink all their blood out. "Will you open this for me?" I asked, handing him the coffee. He looked amazed for a second and then he took the fancy coffee and opened it up for me. I took a drink and held my arms for him to pick me up, cause there was no way I was gonna get my dress dirty by sitting down.

"You know, your costume is how women actually dressed around the time I was born." "But Alice said that was over a hundred years ago." "I was born in 1901." I scowled for a second. "That makes you a grown-up." We couldn't make fun of grown-ups, if he _was_ one. He laughed. "No, I became a vampire when I was seventeen, so I'm a teenager forever." "Oh." I was relieved that he hadn't lied to me about that, and that we could still make fun of grown-ups.

"Forever? You won't get old, or die, like my grandma?" I asked hopefully. "Never." he said, "I'm already dead." "Well you're the nicest-looking dead person I've ever seen." I joked. "I get that a lot." he teased back. "Can I ask you some stuff about, um- vampire stuff?" "Ask me anything." "When do you sleep- and is it in a coffin, like Jessica said?" "I don't sleep at all. And you know there's no coffins in my house!" he pretended to be frustrated and rolled his eyes. For some reason, this didn't surprise me.

"What do you do when you're not sleeping?" "Sometimes I am at my family's house, planning for the next night. Often, I'm in the woods outside your house, making sure you're safe while your parents are asleep." "What do you _do_, just watch me all the time?" I said, even though on the inside, I thought it was sweet.

"Not _all_ the time." "Kay. So you said that your family has a different diet… how is that possible?" He fidgeted nervously. "My family… only drinks the blood of animals, because they don't want to ki-hurt- people." "And you don't?" He wasn't telling me everything, because I know Edward didn't want to hurt people either, even if he made it sound like he did. "And you don't drink animal blood." I said. He didn't need to say it, cause I already knew. "No." "Why not?" "It doesn't taste very good." "Oh." I had the feeling there was more, but I didn't want to make him say anything he didn't want to.

"And that's what you and Emmett meant by favorite animals?" "Yes." "Wow." I said. I knew Edward could do stuff normal people couldn't, but I had no idea, there was a name for it. "So you weren't born a vampire…" "No. I became a vampire because Carlisle made me one by biting me, but not drinking my blood." My eyes were wide. "Why did he make you a vampire?" "I was very sick, and my human parents had already died. He was lonely, and wanted someone to keep him company."

He sat down on the tree that fell over, with me on his lap and kept feeding me chocolate until finally I laughed. "You're gonna spoil my dinner, Edward!" I almost felt sick, actually. I already had a cookie at snack time, and I was going trick-or-treating later. "The other day you said you wanted to eat nothing but candy, for the rest of your life…" he reminded me with a chuckle. "Yes," I said, frowning because I knew he was right. "But, that was _after_ dinner." "Ohh…" he teased me.

I stuck out my tongue at him. "Recess is almost over, and Jessica's looking for you." he said. "Kay," I sighed. He put me down. "Thank you for the candy, and coffee, and for answering my questions." "Of course," he said, touching my hair for a minute. "Bye," and I went back to to the playground.

Jessica was looking under the slide and when she looked up she ran over to me. "Bella! I looked everywhere for you! Where do you even go during recess?" "I just walk around." I lied. "Why are you looking for me?" "I have amazing news!" "What?" "Mike kissed me!" "What? How?" I gasped. Didn't they get in trouble?

"Behind the fence on that side of the blacktop… no teachers could see there!" "Good for you!" "It was kinda weird with our fake fangs, cause they sorta poke your lip like this." She showed me. "Oh." I wondered what happened if vampires kissed with their special teeth- fangs- out. Would it hurt their lips? "I bet everybody will be so jealous when I tell them!" I wondered why Jessica wanted to tell everybody, or make them jealous. "I bet," I said, not very interested anymore.

To be honest, both Mike and Jessica kind of get on my nerves, but I still didn't want to be mean to them. She was obviously getting bored with me, so she tossed her hair and walked off. I looked out into the trees longingly. Edward was probably just out of sight. I would've most likely stood there a lot longer, except then the whistle blew and I went to the blacktop to line up with my class, and we went inside.

We did math and sang a song about a black cat, and colored pictures of pumpkins. After dinner Mommy started opening bags of candy and putting them into a huge bowl. Setting it on the counter, she got out her camera and took a picture of me and Daddy by the door. Normally, Daddy has to work on Halloween and Mommy takes me trick-or-treating, but this year they both get to take me.

Mommy put on a feathery mask and a witch hat and put the bowl of candy outside, and we walked out. Mommy got me in the car and Daddy started driving us, except we weren't going to the neighborhoods, we were going the way to the beach. "Why are we going this way?" "We're trick-or-treating with some friends of ours. Most of the kids are about your age." "Oh." This was new. "The friends at La Push, that live there, that Daddy goes fishing with so much?" I asked. Mommy laughed. "Yes."

We went to La Push, and to the house that my Daddy said belonged to Billy. There was a bunch of people in front of his house, and we parked next to a red truck with hay in the back. A few kids with pretty reddish-brown skin and shiny black hair were running around playing tag. There were three girls, a little taller than me, and two boys. One looked about four, and one was just a toddler, stumbling after the other kids.

A man with a ponytail in a wheelchair rolled up to us as we got out of the car. "Hey, Billy." Daddy said. "Hey, Charlie, Renee, wow is that Bella?" "Yep. Getting big, huh?" Daddy bragged. I blushed and turned back to the kids, who looked at me curiously. I waved nervously, and the older boy waved me over. "Hi, Bella. My dad said you were coming. I'm Jacob." "Hi Jacob." I said. "Those are my sisters Rachel and Rebecca. That's Seth, and his big sister Leah." "Hi." "Hi." and they pointed at Rebecca. "She's it." they said and we started running around.

After a few minutes the grown-ups had us get in the back of the red pickup truck. I sat by Rachel and Jacob on the hay. Seth and Leah's dad, Harry, drove, and Billy was in the passenger seat. Seth's mommy, Sue, and my mommy sat in the back, and my Dad was with us kids. Then we did go to the neighborhoods, and we got so much candy! We ran from house to house and when they got far apart we hopped in the back and rode until we got to the next driveway.

At one point we went past Edward's family's house, but instead of stopping, I think we actually sped up until we were past it. "Why'd we go past that house?" I asked Jacob. "We're not s'posed to go there." He shrugged. "I don't know why, but my dad said no Quileute kids parents let them either. It's just one house, though." I filled a whole bucket by the time I got home. I was so tired. Mommy put me straight in bed, and I almost fell asleep, but I needed to stay up so I could open the window for Edward. It didn't take long, so Mommy and Daddy must have been asleep fast.

Instead of taking me out the window, he came inside. Before I could say anything, he picked me up and put me back in bed. "It's late, Bella. I can't get you back soon enough for you to get the right amount of sleep." "Then stay here." I said. "At least, until I fall asleep." "I will." he said, in the kind of voice that you say _duh_ after. "I'm not going anywhere." I curled myself up in his arms. "Edward, something's bothering me," I said. "About, vampire stuff." He got very still, but his voice was gentle. "What is it love?" "My Daddy, arrests people, if they um- kill people." I didn't like saying that out loud. "I don't want you to get arrested."

He rubbed my back. "Nobody's going to arrest me. I don't get caught. And the people I… kill… are bad people. The kind who would get arrested anyway. Very, very, bad people." He knew how to make me feel better. "You're like a superhero, then." I was relieved. He laughed quietly. "Maybe some people think so. I'm glad you do."

"I'm glad you don't look like Mike's costume." He laughed again, and ran his hand through his hair. "Me, too." When he did that, I wanted to touch it, too, so I did. His hair was just so _fluffy_! He shut his eyes and leaned forward. "I don't know why you do that." "Your hair is soft." I said, embarrassed for a second. He laughed. "That's something I've never heard before!" I blushed and looked away. "Hey, it's okay, Bella. If you think my hair is soft, then by all means, feel free." and he put his head down so it was easier. "Knock it off." I said, fluffing his hair again, and he laughed in a whisper.

"I am… happy, that you know now, I mean." "Me, too. I knew you were different, but I also knew you had secrets, and it sometimes bothered me." "I'm sorry, Bella." he said sadly, touching my cheek. "No more secrets from now on. I promise." "Thank you." "Come here." he said and I cuddled into his chest, with the blankets around me, of course. "Tomorrow you can come to my house, but you need your sleep. It's almost ten." "Really?" Now that he said it, I realized how tired I was. "Stay until I'm asleep." I said, curling closer with a yawn. "I will Bella." "'Night." I whispered into his shirt. He smelled nice, and I fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey, Edward." I said as he climbed into my window. "Hey, Bella." he said back, grinning. I started to go toward him but he stopped me. "Not so fast. It's November, and you know lot's of sickness is going around. Put something warmer on before we go." "Okay." Weird. Normally he just took me over in my pajamas since we got there so fast.

I put on my jacket and my gloves and earmuffs and turned back to him. "Alright, let's go." he said with an excited smile. I wondered what we were doing today. He jumped out with me and started running immediately. I saw the direction and knew he was taking me to his family's house.

"Oh my gosh!" I shouted, excited. There, in Edward's family's driveway, was a shiny black motorcycle. Sitting on top was a little sparkly helmet. "I wondered," Edward said casually, "If you'd like to go to the meadow again?" I looked away from the motorcycle grinning. "Yes!" The meadow was where he took me when we went hiking for my birthday. It was really pretty, with all kinds of flowers, but kind of hard to see at night.

He picked me up and carried me over. He took my earmuffs off and put the helmet on me really snug and put me on the back seat and carefully got on, and then he told me some instructions. "You need to hold on to me like when I'm running, okay?" "Okay." I said, putting my arms around his stomach. He turned the key and revved the engine.

I grinned and pressed my cheek into his shoulder. We started moving forward really fast. I squealed as I saw everything get blurry on the sides. When he turned it was a little scary cause he kinda leaned sideways, but we didn't tip over. "It's okay, Bella," he said. "It's just how we turn. I won't let us fall." "I know." I said, hiding my face in his back. Only a few minutes later though, I was looking up and grinning. It wasn't as fast as his running, but I could see more, cause it wasn't blurry unless I looked sideways.

He turned and slowed down. He pulled over and got me off the motorcycle with one hand, and picked the motorcycle up with the other. He hid it in some bushes and started running with me through the woods. When he stopped I saw a little bit of glowing up ahead.

"What's that?" "It's the meadow." I walked faster, trying to get there without tripping. I got there and gasped. He had put up at least a hundred paper lanterns around the meadow, in the trees and on the ground. "It's beautiful." I whispered. "Not as much as you." he said. I smiled and blushed. "Thank you." He held my hand and walked me over. I reached toward a lantern, but didn't touch it.

I took his other hand and looked up at him. He started swaying with me, and we danced around the meadow. He spun me everywhere, and we really didn't talk much. Even though being clumsy makes dancing kind of difficult, Edward lifted me at the right times so I didn't trip. Finally he plopped down to the ground and pulled me onto his lap.

"Are you cold?" he asked me. "No." I said, but I shivered. I couldn't help it, but I didn't want to move. "Oh, bella, I'm sorry." he said, worried for some reason, and picked me up. "I lost track of time." "Me too." I said, laughing. "I'm just having so much fun." "Good." he said, and kissed the top of my hair. "Now let's go get you warm. I don't want you to get sick." He pulled my hood tighter and held me close as he ran through the woods.

We got to my house soon, but it was longer than it took to get to his or his family's house. "You left the motorcycle there." I realized. "I'll go get it later." he said, shrugging. "Thank you." I said, burying my face into his shirt. "For everything." "You are my life now." he said, putting his arms around me.

He jumped up and we were suddenly in my room. He put me down in bed and lay next to me. He stayed with me every night now. I cuddled up to him. "Good night, Edward." "Good night, Bella." we whispered to each other before I fell asleep.

**Sorry I haven't updated in, well, forever (and that this chapter is so short!). A month or so ago I left my notebook by the computer. Among partially written chapters of this story, it also contains other random FanFics, some of which are lemons. My parents found it, and were not exactly pleased with the content. So now that they think I have issues, it's been slightly difficult to motivate myself to keep writing. I mean, I'm going to anyway, but it's been taking me ****a while for me to get back into it, you know? Anyways, thanks for sticking with me. You all are the best motivation!**


	7. Chapter 7

"Wake up, Bella." I felt a smooth, cold hand touch my cheek. I reached up and grabbed it. "Edward?" I asked groggily, opening my eyes. "Today's the big day, Bella. Ready to be Spelling Champion of the fifth grade?" I smiled up at him. "Of course I am," I said.

Even though I was still a little nervous, I wasn't _that_ nervous because we got a packet of the words we might get, and Edward helped me practice a lot of them. "Good. You're going to do great!" "Jeez, you're more excited than I am. Calm yourself." I teased. "You're still able to come, right?" "I wouldn't miss it for the world. I have to sneak in a little later, but it'll be before your turn."

"What about Alice?" She was one of my best friends, especially since Jess didn't really want to talk to me much anymore. She would rather hang out with Lauren. "She's-um-getting ready for something tonight." he said evasively (that was one of the words on my list!). "But she'll be watching, don't worry!" he pretended he hadn't said anything unusual.

"Not a party!" I groaned. "I'm afraid so." he said solemnly, mocking me a little. I squinted my eyes at him. "Sorry!" he said quickly, pulling me out of bed. I laughed. Even after all this time, he still thought it was possible for me to be mad at him. "Alright, I'm going to leave so you can get dressed. Eat a good breakfast," he said.

Carlisle had specifically told us the importance of sleep, and breakfast yesterday, for the brain to work right. Edward was paying more attention to braiding my hair than listening to his dad, but it didn't matter. I'm pretty sure that since Edward doesn't need to either eat _or_ sleep, Carlisle was talking to me in particular. We left early last night, since apparently I needed to go to bed at nine thirty-five. I rolled my eyes, but he still insisted.

"See ya, Edward." I said and he smiled before he jumped out of my window, running quick so my parents couldn't see him out of the kitchen window. I got out of my pajamas and got the dress I was wearing today from where it was hanging on my closet door. Alice called it "plum" but that was just her stupid nickname for "dark purple".

I slipped the dress over my head and looked in the mirror. I frowned and looked away. I was too tall, too skinny, and I didn't have to wear a bra yet. I was still too scared to shave so I had to wear tights. I looked clumsy even when I wasn't moving. I tried not to scowl and I put my nice shoes on.

Going downstairs, I focused on not tripping, and forgot about my stress for a little bit. I had Raisin Bran instead of Pop-Tarts that morning, because it was healthy. Mom and Dad were ridiculous, taking photos, and saying _over_ _and over_ how much I was growing up. I tried not to be awkward, especially when they hugged me.

Mom and I got in the car, and Dad promised to come later, right after work. I smiled at them, but inside I was really nervous. It was way easier to be confident when Edward was with me, but since I knew he'd be there, I knew it would be okay. He said he didn't care if my spelling was perfect, and that he'd be proud of me no matter what. Although it was kind of cheesy, it was still sweet, and made me feel better.

The morning went by fast. I was so distracted I answered a question about Little House in the Big Woods wrong, even though it was my favorite book, and so nervous I could barely even eat my fish sticks at lunch.

I ate as much as I could with all the butterflies in my stomach and then I walked into the gym. Lots of parent volunteers were setting up chairs, and Eric Yorkie was taking pictures with a big, expensive-looking camera. He stopped to wave at me and then pointed me to the line of everyone else doing the spelling bee. I mouthed a "thank you" to him and ran over to find my spot in line.

Angela and I spotted each other at the same time and waved. We already agreed not to get mad if one of us beat the other. I don't think we would have anyway, but it was still reassuring.

She was towards the end, because her last name is Weber, and I was kinda at the back of the middle. We snuck of of our spots in line to talk to eachother.

"Are you nervous?" I asked. "Yeah," she admitted. "I have a ton of family members coming... even ones I haven't met!" "That's rough." I sympathized. "Are you nervous?" she asked me. "Yeah, but I don't think either of us need to be. Our spelling tests are always perfect," I was trying to assure both of us when I said that, and it worked for one of us. "We'll do great!" she said. "Good luck!" "You too!" I said going back to my spot. The parents were arriving.

About half of the fifth graders were doing the spelling bee, so I still had some time before it was my turn. I looked around the gym and saw my mom and dad wave at me from the third row. I waved back. My stomach got really full of butterflies when I saw how many parents were in there.

I fidgeted nervously as the first person went up. They got it right. The next one did too. It seemed to go so fast. Then I thought about the words I'd studied. They were words I knew, words I could spell... on a stage... in front of everyone's parents... okay, I stopped, focusing upon my breathing instead.

Suddenly, at least it seemed that way, I was at the front of the line. Anxiously I scanned the audience one more time, and then I saw Edward in the very back, giving me a tiny wave. I resisted the urge to wave back and gave him a little smile instead.

"Spell 'melancholy'," someone said. It was a man I didn't know. "Your sentence is: The death of our dog has caused us all great melancholy."

"M-E-L-A-N-C-H-O-L-Y." I said, focusing on seeing the word in my mind, and hearing Edward say it in my memory.

"Correct," I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding, and walked to the back of the line, which had gotten a lot shorter. I gulped, still nervous, even though I hadn't had any trouble just before. As more and more people got out I panicked a little but Angela came up and whispered, "It's okay, Bella. We're practically the only ones who studied." "You're right." I said. I needed to think positively, like Angela did.

I went through each round, always checking to make sure Angela made it. After that I wasn't really listening to whose names were being called, what letters were being said. I didn't really pay attention until I heard them say my full name.

I looked up and there was a huge gap in the line, in fact, there was no one in front of me. I looked behind me in a panic.

Everyone was out except me, Katie, Samantha, Ashley, and Angela. I shifted uneasily, and my eyes flicked over to my mom, my dad, and then to Edward. I felt a little more confident.

"Spell 'oblivion'. Your sentence is 'No one could reach him in his oblivion." I struggled hard to focus on spelling, and not on the audience.

"O-B-L-I-V-I-O-N."

"Good," he said.

Ashley was out, because she tried to put an _A_ in the word 'tedious'. Katie was next, and I felt bad for her. She looked terrified. She got nervous and forgot a letter.

"Spell 'oblivion'. Your sentence is 'No one could reach him in his oblivion." Was it my turn again already? I struggled hard to focus on spelling, and not on the audience.

"O-B-L-I-V-I-O-N."

"Good," they said.

"Spell 'evasively'," he told Angela. "Your sentence is, 'He evasively avoided the subject,'".

"E-V-A-S-I-V-E-L-Y."

"Correct."

Samantha Wells went after her and misspelled 'dialect' with an _e _instead of an a. That was when it was just me and Angela. I looked at her nervously and we sheepishly smiled at eachother. She got the word 'incentive', and then I got the word 'culminate', and then she was out for misspelling 'millennium'. I gave her an apologetic look and she rolled her eyes at me, laughing, and then cheerfully applauded with everyone else. My mom and dad, of course, were hollering and embarrassing me.

"Great job, Bells! I knew I had the smartest kid in this town!" Dad exclaimed, hugging me, as I found my way over to my parents. "Thanks, Dad." I couldn't help but look over to Edward, who was leaving with the crowd. He made eye contact with me for just a second and smiled at me. Then he was gone and I was being patted on the back and hugged and congratulated by everyone. Eric wanted to take a picture of me with my prize, the golden apple. It was kind of weird, and I tried to slip away and find Angela again.

"Good job!" I said, hugging her. "Bella, you're the one who won!" she said, with an exasperated laugh. "So? Your words were harder than mine, and you did fantastic!" "Thanks, Bella. You, too." "I'm gonna be tired of that soon." I said, thinking about the party waiting for me at the Cullen's house tonight. "No kidding," she said. "I am already, and I only got second place. But it's kind of nice, too." "Yeah." I said, remembering Edward's proud smile as I got each word right. That made all the nervousness worth it.

Mom and Dad congratulated me all the way back home, but I was getting distracted, thinking about Edward and the party. Mom fixed dinner and Dad watched football, and I just got straight in my pajamas. The sooner I got to hang out with Edward, the better, even though that meant a party. After dinner I rushed to my room, giving a lame excuse about being really tired, and then they let me be.

Edward was in my room when I got there, smiling hugely. "Don't say 'congratulations' if you know what's good for you." I threatened jokingly as I walked in. "Fine. You did a fantastic job, congrats!" "I just said-" "What are you going to do about it?" he challenged, smirking. "I'll- I'll-" Dang it. I really hadn't thought that through. "Hmph." I said, because that was obviously the best comeback. He laughed. "Let's go party." I pouted, but crawled up onto his back. He jumped out of my window, and we were at the Cullen house in a matter of minutes.

"Congratulations!" everyone said as we walked in. "Thanks," I said, blushing and looking at my feet. "Figures you'd end up a know-it-all like Edward!" Emmett teased me. "I am not a know-it-all!" I exclaimed. At the same time Edward said irritably, but also amused, "Being a genius does _not_ make her a know-it-all!" I rolled my eyes. "You don't need to be so dramatic. If I was a genius I would have skipped like three grades by now."

He raised an eyebrow. "I could arrange that." I shook my head, blushing furiously. "That will be quite unnecessary." He laughed, running a hand through my hair. That didn't exactly help with the blushing. "We may just end up with another doctor in the family," Carlisle said. I smiled up at Edward. He was the only one that knew I wanted to be a doctor. He winked at me and I beamed.

I saw the chocolate cake behind everyone and practically drooled... except that would have been embarrassing. I may have wanted to be a doctor, but I still had a huge sweet tooth!

"Alice told us what words you had to spell. It was very impressive." Jasper complimented. Rosalie smiled forcefully. "Congratulations, Bella. You're very smart." She said, but she was having difficulty. "Thank you, Rosalie." I said, trying not to let anything get awkward. Rosalie was not my biggest fan in the Cullen family.

Alice got everybody cake, and then everyone sat down in different parts of the room, talking to eachother. I mostly just wanted to talk to Edward, and so I did. "Can we go to your room?" I asked quietly, because whispering would get everyone's attention faster. He didn't say anything, just picked me up and then we were in his room. "Alice told me what's been bothering you," he said and I blushed. "Just girl stuff. Nothing for you to worry about." It was quiet for a second and I got really embarrassed.

"I can help you, or Alice can, if you would feel more comfortable." "That wouldn't be... weird?" I asked, unsure. "No, of course not." "I don't really think I'm supposed to ask for help with that."

"Everybody asks for help their first time shaving. I had to ask my father for help the first time when I was human." "Really?" That made me feel a little better. "Well, maybe you could just help me with my legs...?" I asked. "Of course," he said. He held my hand and we walked into the bathroom. He had me sit down on the edge of the tub, and he opened a razor from under the sink. He grabbed the pink bottle of shaving cream from the shower and kneeled in front of me. He rolled up my pajama pants and I blushed.

I had gotten used to hiding my legs from him. I didn't want him to see how hairy they were. I looked closely at his face, and luckily he didn't look grossed out at all. It was the same face he made when he painted my nails. He got his hand wet and rubbed it on my legs. "You always need to get them wet first, so you don't cut yourself," he said, then he put the shaving cream on me. He put the razor in my hand and I got nervous, but he didn't let go.

"Don't go from left to right. On your legs, you'll want to go straight up," he guided my hand from my ankle to my knee. "Hold it loosely- yes, just like that- so it can move easier." Each time I got to the top of my knee, Edward took the razor and quickly rinsed it in the sink.

Before I knew it, my legs were so smooth I wasn't even sure they were mine. I rubbed my legs together, grinning when it didn't prickle. Edward smiled and put the razor in a drawer.

"Look at that, not even a nick," he said, smiling. "You've got it down already." "Did you ever accidentally cut yourself?" I asked. "Yes, once or twice," Edward said. My eyes got wide. Edward's skin was so hard. I tried to imagine his face soft enough to be cut. I put my hand on his cheek and shuddered. He hugged me. "It never really hurt that bad, just stung a little. It was more embarrassing than anything else." "Ah." I said, and yawned. "Worn out?" he asked. "A bit." "Let's go say goodnight to everyone." "Okay."

Alice seemed disappointed we were going so soon, but I promised she could give me a makeover next time and she cheered up. Everyone said goodnight and when we were outside I climbed up onto Edward's back. I hid my face against his shoulder blade as he ran me home.

When we got into my room he lay down with me. I yawned and buried my face in his shoulder. He smoothed my hair a few times. "Good night, Edward." I said. Usually I tried to stay up all night talking, but I really _was_ tired today. "Good night, Bella. Do you want to sleep in tomorrow?" I chuckled a teensy bit. Edward was much better than the alarm clock I'd only used twice. "Yeah. Thank you." "Of course," he said, smoothing my hair once more before his hand became still and he started humming my lullaby. I fell asleep almost immediately.

**A/N: I'm really sorry that I haven't updated in so long. I hope the last part wasn't too awkward, though that's probably the best word to describe fifth grade! (Why didn't ****_I_**** get an Edward?) I skipped ahead, but I'll probably come back to little Bella eventually. I'm thinking about eventually making a story to go with this, that actually has a plot, and having ****_Darkward and Bella_**** be mostly one-shots from Bella's childhood and stuff. I also think I need a better title! I've been working on a few more stories as well, but I want to finish them before I put them up, so you don't end up with 5 month breaks like this! When I'm at my dad's place this summer, hopefully I'll get more done. Thank you so much for reading this! The fact that there are people who actually care enough to read and follow/favorite/review my writing is a source of encouragement and comfort in my life, and I can't thank you enough.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I'm not sure if I should even have to mention that I don't own anything except the plot, but I don't want my account taken down. BTW, Bella is fifteen now, so don't freak out at the beginning, haha!**

_"Don't worry. You expand too."_

I shrieked and shoved the book under my covers, my face hot. "What the hell, Edward?" He cracked up.

"Enjoying your book?"

I tried to growl at him, but it only made him laugh harder. Why couldn't _I _be the vampire? I did the most rational thing I could, and threw the damn book at his head. He caught it, of course, and proceeded to open it as I took a different approach and put my blanket over my head.

"Story time!" he said delightedly. "Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James."

"I'm Fifty Shades of Going-to-kill-you," I muttered darkly. He thought he was so funny, didn't he?

"Chapter One: Ana Experiences Sexual Tension for the First Time in Her Life, Even Though She's Twenty-One." I did the second-most rational thing and tackled him.

"Give. That. Back!" I yelled.

"You're such a spoilsport," he said, giving it back. I threw it into my closet.

"So, besides reading smut, what else are you doing?"

"Dying of embarrassment."

"You weren't even to the sex part," he said, smirking.

"I hate you," I said, laughing despite myself.

"That's not nice," he pouted.

"Neither is sneaking up on me," I retorted.

"Let's go to my house."

"Duh."

We went to his house and into the room he painted for me when I was a kid. Over the years we'd brought in a couple bean bag chairs, and a flat screen on a table with a few game consoles. It was great.

"I'm gonna kick your ass today," I announced, putting MarioKart into the Wii, and setting it to the right input.

"Riiiight…" he said, rolling his eyes, and putting the remotes into the steering wheels. He tossed me one and we sat in our usual spots. I chose my Mii and the dirt bike. He did the same, except he chose a different bike.

"What do you want to play?" he asked.

"Sherbet land." I needed to get warmed up before we got to Bowser's Castle. He selected it and we got focused.

_3… 2...1… Start!_

We took off, passing all the other players immediately. He was in first and I was in second. Dammit! Was it going to end like this again? I mentally crossed my fingers as I hit the first box. Edward's loaded a second before mine, and he was suddenly a bullet. _Not fair!_ I was given three bananas. _I hate my life._

I went through the cave and decided against leaving them in the sharp turns like I normally did. I had a plan.

I kept going and halfway through the second lap I had caught up with him… and he was unarmed. I got up beside him and crashed into him, knocking us both sideways, but me a little more. _Dang! This is what I get for choosing a lighter bike than he did! _I got my chance though. The places were changing every other second. I swerved left and cut him off, leaving a banana right in front of him. He spun out and I got ahead just for the third lap.

The music sped up and I unintentionally held my wheel a little tighter. Game on.

He was right behind me. I carefully chose the shortest route that my poor bike could take and tried to stay in front of Edward.

It was so close. His bike was a tad faster than mine, though I had better acceleration. It didn't help me now. I kept pressing my rear tire into his front wheel, grinning as he nearly spun out and I got a few yards ahead of him.

I whooped as I finished right in front of him. He tossed the steering wheel to the ground, acting mad. "You don't play fair."

I laughed. "Like _you_ do!"

"Rainbow road. Now."

"Oh, yeah."

He picked the wheel back up and we both changed vehicles. I chose the Standard Kart and he did the same. Aw, crap. We were going to be even this time.

_3... 2... 1... Start! _

We took off and I narrowly avoided being knocked off the side, by Bowser of all people!

Ticked off, I got my box and grinned as I got giant. "Whoo-hoo!" I yelled as I started turning everyone into pancakes. Edward was one. His mushroom fell to the ground beside him. "Ha!" I yelled. He decided to be a sore loser and paused the game.

"Let's play something else."

I scowled in his direction. "I was on a roll!"

"Emmett's made a monster of you."

"No, he gave me SKILLZ!" I joked with a laugh. Emmett always made an effort to be 'cool', but he obviously hadn't followed human trends for a while. He certainly had an entertaining vocabulary, though.

"How about… Just Dance?"

I gasped. "You wouldn't!"

He held the disc up. "Are you afraid?"

_Yes._ "Of course not!" I stammered. He laughed.

"You're right, I wouldn't." He looked entertained. I threw the Wii remote at him. He caught it easily and tossed it to the side. "Do you need to study for the chemistry test?"

"No. But I'm not going to complain if you give me your notes…" He laughed.

Having Edward at school with me was both wonderful and terrible all at the same time. It was wonderful, because he sat with me at lunch, I saw him in class, and he gave me his notes. It was horrible because of everyone else at school.

First I had to pretend not to know him, and claim that we just "hit it off" that morning. Then I had to deal with Jessica trying to use me to cozy up to him. She made sure the first day that Edward knew we were "besties". What a joke.

Edward handed me a sheet of paper, officially typed and everything. "Thanks. I owe you one."

"Pshh." He waved his hand dismissively. I felt a little uncomfortable, because I knew, genius that he was, he only took notes for me. He noticed my expression and frowned, as if he could read my mind. "Really, Bella, it gives me something to do. I forgot how painfully boring high school was."

I laughed in agreement. "Now that we've 'known eachother' for a few months, do you think it's acceptable to start a band?" he asked.

"I'm ready to find out," I said.

"Do you still like our name?" he asked. His voice surprised me. He sounded, almost nervous.

"Of course. It's perfect. Why?"

"Well, there's a talent contest coming up in December, and I was wondering if you wanted to enter it with me…?"

"Yeah," I said, smiling at him. So that's what it was about. We were pretty amazing. Now, if someone asked me to sing alone in front of the school, I would say there is no way. But Edward was very talented, and he made me feel like I sounded good.

"What do you want to play?" I asked.

"I don't know. What style would you prefer?" He knew I was still a tad uncomfortable singing in front of others.

"Well, as much as _I_ love your Chester Bennington impersonations, I don't know if the idiots I go to school with would appreciate your amazingness in that regard," I said winking at him.

He laughed. "Coldplay?"

"Absolutely!" I said. Our harmonies on Fix You were incredible!

"You take guitar, I'll take piano?"

"Yep. Do you want to practice, since you're being a sore loser today?" I teased. He pretended to scowl at me, but he was still grinning.

"Yeah. Why would I pass down an opportunity to hear your beautiful voice?"

I blushed and rolled my eyes. We went to the music room and I sat down at the piano. After years of him playing beautifully, I had asked him to teach me, and he had. He was a lot better than me, but he had hidden skills that were needed on the guitar, as I wasn't very good at that yet. He pulled a stool up next to me and sat down with his guitar.

I started playing and he joined me, sweetly strumming the guitar.

"When you try your best, but you don't succeed…" he began singing.

"When you get what you want, but not what you need…"

"When you get so tired, but you can't sleep…" I always felt bad for Edward when he sang that line.

"Stuck in reverse…" That's when we came together for the chorus.

"Lights will guide you home... and ignite your bones… and I will try… to fix you."

The atmosphere always changed a little when we started singing. It felt like the lights got dimmer, the world got farther away. It became a place for just him and me.

**A/N: So, here's your update (yay!), and I just skipped another five years. I figured that as they got older, a little sarcasm would be in order. ;)**

**I also want to mention that I made a Twitter. I'm going to try to use it to let you know when I'm working on a chapter, and what's going on with my life if it's preventing me from writing. I just hate it when authors update and it's just an author's note, so follow me if you want! ^.^**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Sorry, this is a pretty short chapter, but I'm finally updating! And hopefully this is worth it...**

"Oh. My. God. Edward is going to _love_ this!" Alice squealed.

"Why are you doing this?" I groaned. But secretly I hoped she was right. I was in the bathroom where Alice was doing my hair with cream-colored ribbons and hot things that made me nervous.

"Because you promised. And because as my _bestest friend in the whole wide world _you are required to let me give you makeovers." I tried to sigh dramatically but ended up laughing anyway. "You used to _love_ playing dress up!" she accused.

"But you're taking too long. I miss Edward."

"Well, I miss Jasper."

"That's totally different. You _live_ with him."

"Come on, I'm almost done." She released a curl of my hair, and it fell to my cheek, uncomfortably warm. She sprayed me with hairspray and I started coughing.

"Some best friend," I muttered.

"It's perfect!" she sighed happily.

"That's great!" I said cheerily. "Can I please go see Edward, now?"

"Fine. But you have to model for him."

"I am _absolutely_ okay with that!" I said, snippy.

"Great!" she exclaimed. "Let's go!" I followed her to the living room where Edward was sitting on the couch. I smiled shyly at him and he got up and came over to me.

"You're beautiful," he said.

"That's kind of Alice's specialty," I said ruefully. I probably should be grateful to her for putting the effort into my appearance that I never did.

"You don't need Alice to look beautiful," he said, shooting Alice a dirty look. "And I can do hair just as good as she can." He sounded jealous and I giggled.

"You can do my hair tomorrow," I promised.

"I'll do it better than she did... I won't even use a curling iron!" He bragged. Oh, yeah, he was jealous. I laughed.

I hugged him and Alice started freaking out that I was going to mess up my hair. "You need to relax," I muttered into Edward's chest. I didn't feel like turning around to look at her.

"Ugh. I'm going to go hunt with Jasper. Bye Bella!"

"Bye." I felt a little guilty about my attitude when she left. "Ah, I should apologize to her," I said.

Edward snorted. "Alice isn't really offended, she just wants you to feel bad so she gets her way."

"Still..." I said, frowning at the door.

He turned me back to him. "If you're not going to model for me, will you at least dance with me?" He pretended to be annoyed, but I could see laughter in his eyes. My heart leapt to my throat as I stared. I shook off off, preparing a witty remark. That's when I saw it.

Around his pupils, flecks of gold decorated his crimson irises. I gasped. He looked down, embarrassed, knowing exactly what I'd seen. "Ah... shall we?" He refused to acknowledge it, and that worked for me.

He spun me around and around the living room, and I got dizzy, laughing. Eventually my two left feet got the better of me, and I stumbled. Of course, Edward caught me before I got anywhere near the floor, but instead of pulling me up he held me there, bent backwards, supporting me with ease.

My heart skipped a beat, and I remained motionless, waiting for... what? We stood there for minutes, maybe hours, and I couldn't breathe. Eventually, though, he pulled me upright, still supporting me by the elbows.

"Uh..." I said awkwardly. What had just happened?

"I'm sorry," he said.

"For what?" Did he feel... wait, what did _I_ feel?

"It's nothing," he said dismissively, and I felt almost disappointed. But we danced and the way he smiled down on me made me forget everything, forget myself. There was nothing in the world but him.

"What are we listening to?" I asked.

"It's an original."

"Wow," I breathed. Would he ever cease to amaze me? Suddenly his hands tightened on my waist and he lifted me into the air. I gasped, squealing as he spun me and my legs flew out. As he slowed, my feet made contact with the ground and he spun me some more.

"Knock it off, I'm getting dizzy again," I muttered. He chuckled, and his breath felt cool and smelled nice. I got even dizzier.

"What shall I do, then?" he whispered, and everything fell into place.

"Kiss me," I breathed, and his breath caught. Before I could become ashamed or nervous, I closed my eyes. I could feel him lean closer, and then his cold lips pressed gently to mine.

My heart began beating wildly in my chest. This had never occurred to me. I'd never thought that Edward could be more than everything he was to me already. I responded enthusiastically, and when he pulled away we were gasping.

"Wow," he said. I nodded. _Wow_ didn't even cover it. I giggled. _I can't believe that just happened! _Edward gently brushed a stray curl behind my ear, his fingers touching my cheek.

"You have a beautiful laugh, Bella," he said softly, and I melted further into his arms.

He removed all the pins holding my hair up, so the curls tumbled to my waist. It felt a lot better.

"Thank you," I said, then paused. "I'd... like to do that again sometime," I admitted, blushing.

He chuckled a little. "And so you shall," he said, pecking me on the lips. "But..." he became surprisingly serious then, "there's no rush. I don't want you to feel pressured into anything, okay?"

"Okay." I didn't feel pressured at all. It felt completely natural. My head over his heart, his arms holding me securely, adoringly, and the way he ran his fingers through my hair. It was just right.

He took me home that night, and laid down with me. He hummed to me. I wanted to stay awake and listen to him, but as he hummed my lullaby, I couldn't help but drift to sleep, feeling more whole than I ever had before.

**A/N: *Squealing* That was so much fun to write! They're finally together... I didn't make that weird, did I? Thank you for the follows, favorites, and reviews! I annoy my friends and family with my excitement every time you give me one!**


End file.
